In the wake of the Mike Brown shooting and Ferguson protests last year, many in the Black community called for Black celebrities to speak out against the injustices shown to their own people. Some Black celebrities rose to the occasion, using social media and TV news outlets like CNN to say their piece.

Others, like Nelly, preferred to move in relative silence and let their actions do the talking. Following the events in Ferguson, the St. Louis rapper came under fire for not visiting the city right away. He eventually visited Ferguson to speak with protesters and created a scholarship fund in Michael Brown’s name.

The scholarship was not merely a sentimental act to honor the slain college student but a part of a strategic plan to help bring change to the Ferguson community in the only effective way he believes he can.

“I try to do it through education because that’s the only way we’re going to get it. The only way we’re going to get this is to elevate,” Nelly explained in an interview with Hello Beautiful just after the Ferguson anniversary on August 9, 2015. “We have to get the kids to go out of these communities. Graduate. Get the knowledge. Come back to the community, and then they can run it because they understand the people and understand the severity of the situation.”

The Mike Brown scholarship isn’t the only act of altruism Nelly has taken in the area of education. He has sent two students to college on scholarships every year for the past 10 years. To critics who have rebuked him for his lack of vocal support for the events at Ferguson, the “Hot in Herre” rapper asserts that sometimes it’s better to do things quietly.

Cartoonist and illustrator Barry Blitt is best known for his work with The New Yorker, and his latest cover for the magazine depicts Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a re-imagining of images seen in photos from the Selma-To-Montgomery march events. In the illustration, Rev. King is seen walking — arms locked — with slain Staten Island, N.Y., resident Eric Garner and fallen NYPD officer Wenjian Liuwith, slain Black teenagers Trayvon Martin and Michael “Mike” Brown in the background.

The image is enhanced due to the inclusion of the American flag behind the marchers, and the serene look on the faces of the figures invites a moment of reflection of what was lost. Blitt was inspired to draw the cover for the New Yorker’s upcoming cover story, “The Dream Of Reconciliation,” because of the Selma marches. With King’s birthday on Jan. 15th, and the upcoming recognition of the civil rights leader this coming Monday, the timeliness of the illustration is noteworthy.

“It struck me that King’s vision was both the empowerment of African Americans, the insistence on civil rights, but also the reconciliation of people who seemed so hard to reconcile,” he said. “In New York and elsewhere, the tension between the police and the policed is at the center of things. Like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, Martin Luther King was taken way too early. It is hard to believe things would have got as bad as they are if he was still around today.”

As the nation continues to grapple with the loss of Martin, Garner, Brown, Liu and his partner Officer Rafael Ramos, there is a collective outpouring of grief and questions that are still yet unanswered. Blitt, in his words, seems to recognize the weight of his art and the inquiries it will surely spark in the days to come.

Things weren’t supposed to go this way. This was supposed to be a buildup to Thanksgiving week, with fun, lighthearted posts about recipes and Black Friday deals. Yay! Shopping! And now, none of that seems right anymore. Not after Ferguson. On Monday November 24th, in an evening announcement that seemed poorly planned to say the least, it was announced that the grand jury did not indict Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown. What does that mean? That means that Darren Wilson gets to walk free, after all of the protests and righteous anger and calls for justice.

CNN predicts there will most likely be a more stringent federal probe and a wrongful death lawsuit – click here to read their predictions. For the black community on the ground in Ferguson as well as in major US cities like NYC, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Chicago, it meant protesting in the streets and making our voices heard in the dead of the night. And so many of us are now left wondering “now what?” How can we express this rage and this pain caused by a system that is broken, a system that fails to value our lives as equal? How can we speak truth to power and have the hope of making some kind of difference, some kind of essential statement that proves that we have value greater than what society seems to perceive?

The overwhelming cry I’m seeing from my online community is BOYCOTT. Some people are calling it BLACKOUT Friday. Some are calling it Black Owned Friday. Some are using the hashtags #BlackOutBlackFriday, #NotOneDime, #HandsUpDontSpend, #BoycottBlackFriday, #BrownFriday and #ShopBlack, others have adopted the slogan No Justice, No Profit. No matter what you call it, the sentiment is the same and the statement is clear. Economic activism is a time-honored tactic that notably proved effective during the Montgomery bus boycott. It is a way to send a message to the government, big business, all while simultaneously bolstering our nationwide community. Click to read more about the impending boycott via the Chicago Defender, the Washington Post, and MSNBC. Click here to visit BlackoutFriday.org, which breaks it all down.

Following the announcement that police officer Darren Wilsonwould not be indicted for the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, several human rights groups have sprung into action to protest the decision and push back against undue violence at the hands of police.

In the entertainment community, Blackout for Human Rights, a “network of concerned citizens who commit their resources to immediately address the staggering level of human rights violations against fellow Americans,” has been active in the past few months with a series of videos calling for a nationwide boycott of all major retailers this Black Friday, the major shopping day following Thanksgiving.

One hope is that pressure from the community will cause Wilson to be held accountable at a federal level.

https://twitter.com/UncleRUSH/status/537276071125983232

The group, which counts filmmakers Ryan Coogler, Shaka King, Terence Nance, Rick Famuyiwa and others among its members, is using the hashtag #BlackOutBlackFriday to put the call out on social media for supporters to participate in “a nationwide day of action for human rights awareness, as opposed to a day of consumerism.”

When the news came out about the shooting death of Mike Brown at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., many were outraged, heartbroken, and some people just didn’t know what to do. But for Londrelle Hall, 28, and Ray Mills, 29, all they wanted to do was run. The two decided they wanted to go to Ferguson and make a difference. They wanted to protest for and pay tribute to Mike Brown, but also run for black men in general, whose image in the media has been maligned. Mills told NBC News, “Statistically, it seems like in our community we [black men] are incarcerated or doing nothing. We want to go against the grain and not be another statistic, and we wanted to inspire other people to do the same.” Hall agreed, saying “We want to show that people who look like us can be doing something positive.”

Running in their “Run For Justice” hoodies, the men garnered quite a following on Instagram. Hall has 38,000 followers, and many of those supporters left positive, encouraging messages on their page and even text the men to keep their spirits up. After taking time out of their busy schedules and full-time jobs to train, the men ran and walked for 20 days, doing at least 35 miles a day, no matter the weather, taking their protest and awareness across counties, from state to state. They eventually found their way to Brown’s memorial in Ferguson, where they were met by supporters. Once they reached the spot as rain poured down on everyone, Hall broke down in tears, saying on Instagram, “My Soul Cried.”

It wasn’t easy at all, but Hall says that even though they’ve met their goal, they will continue to run for Brown and for all injustices going on.

“The purpose of this was never forget, but to keep raising awareness of what’s going on around us, so this is not the end. We will still run, not necessarily 540 miles, but we will still run.”